The Hookup

“She said the same thing to you?” asked Marie, her voice lifting. “I like that girl. She seems to give you a run for your money.”

  He picked apart a large paperclip, bending the thin wire out of shape.

  “What did she think?”

  “Of what?” he asked, looking up, his mind had completely switched off for a few moments there. His mind had backtracked to him and Kay having coffee, and how differently things might have turned out had he not been careless with his words.

  “Of the Easter Bunny,” replied Marie, her face deadpan. “What do you think?”

  “She was glad she came with me,” he replied, vaguely, his thoughts distracting him again.

  “I’ll have to ask her myself. At least that way I’ll get an honest answer.”

  “We have more important things to deal with, and Canal Street is our main priority right now.” Work would soon begin on the new site, and he had a shit ton of contracts and legal paperwork to deal with.

  “You should go over there today, and check it out,” Marie told him. “I need to catch up with work here at the office.”

  His neck was hurting again, and he’d made an appointment to see the doctor later today. “I’ll go over tomorrow.” He had every intention of keeping an eye on the place while the builders were working on it, but just not today.

  “Let me know next time that girlfriend of yours is here,” said Marie, getting up and walking towards the door.

  He wanted to see her again. Only, he had stuff to deal with first. He was feeling tired again. The wedding had drained him, seeing his family had emotionally drained him, but physically he was feeling tired, too. The only time he had forgotten all the tiredness, the only time he had felt truly alive was when Kay had been around. Having her next to him in bed and holding her through her night had been comforting. In her he had found the kind of peace he hadn’t found in anyone, and then he’d gone and ruined it.

  Opening his desk drawer, he looked at the gifts still lying inside. He had no idea when Kay’s birthday was, and it occurred to him that he could give her these gifts for Valentine’s Day.

  But that would risk him making some kind of statement and it wasn’t in his DNA to take a good thing and run with it.

  Even if that good thing had helped him to somehow bury the past. Meeting Travis and Maggie hadn’t been as difficult as it usually was. He’d dreaded that moment, but it had lost its impact on him.

  Maybe he had moved on. This was all Kay’s doing. She was helping him erase the hurt from his past, and she didn’t even know about it.

  He picked up the jewelry box and fingered its embossed gold signage. For a guy who avoided commitment, he was going about things the wrong way.

  Unless he was no longer that guy.

  ~ ~

  He had slapped her back to reality with a sentence.

  Perhaps that hadn’t been a bad thing, otherwise she would have continued to wrap herself up in grand delusions about their passionate night together.

  Luke was so changeable, like a chameleon, and maybe her impressions of him had been right all along.

  As the days passed, she found herself confused about the state of their relationship. As much as she wanted to end it, she found herself unable to walk away, especially now that she had a window into his soul and had glimpsed some of his demons. She wanted to help him, but he wasn’t an easy man to help, or love, or be with. This much she had learned.

  Spending that night with him after the wedding had convinced her that he was starting to change. Their intimacy had deepened, and waking up the next morning in his bed, with his arms around her, had given her hope that the relationship she had secretly been wanting all along, might slowly come to be.

  She had seen a gentler, more considerate side to him, as well as an intensely troubled side, too, and his revelation to her, about his mother and her subsequent death, and his father’s mistress, had caught her off guard. It was as if the stress of seeing his family again had brought down his barriers, and softened him enough so that he could open up to her.

  If she had been dreading the morning-after awkwardness, his actions the next day had completely surprised her.

  It had all gone so well, him talking to her, and opening up, and suggesting they go out and grab something for brunch. And then he’d gone and ruined it all by reminding her of the reason he wanted to be with her.

  For sex, and nothing more.

  She had left his apartment wondering if that was how men like Luke Hunter rolled, and she reminded herself that she had been on the brink of splitting up with him before, and that she had only put it off because of the wedding.

  She had been torn. One moment thinking that it was possible to move beyond the hookups, and the next moment, convinced that she was being an idealistic and hopeless fool for thinking this way.

  But that had been a week ago, and she hadn’t heard from him since. No text or email, nor a phone call. It was Valentine’s Day tomorrow, and she would have expected at least a text or something by now, because he had no idea how much he’d upset her, and he would have assumed that everything was still fine between them. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was expecting a present from him. Christmas had taught her that the guy wasn’t into exchanging gifts. She already knew not to have any expectations, and had forced herself to forget that night with him, but it was hard to when Luke Hunter’s sense and smell were still imprinted all over her.

  She could no more not think about him, than she could not breathe. Forgetting him was impossible, and was made more so because of his total silence. She didn’t know what to think. She wasn’t sure if he was ignoring her because he regretted making himself vulnerable, or whether he was just busy. He’d mentioned that work would soon be starting on the new club he’d recently bought on Canal Street, but the truth was, she just didn’t know what to think.

  So when Erin suggested that they go to The Oasis, she found herself in a quandary, particularly since she didn’t know what face to show the friend who was so excited for her ‘new romance.’

  “Why not?” Erin whined, when Kay made up another excuse for why she couldn’t.

  “I can’t,” she replied, pretending to busy herself in work. She had plenty to do and had done a few fourteen-hour workdays lately, but that was because her mind hadn’t been on work as much as it should have been.

  She hadn’t had her period either. Unable to wait, she’d taken a test, but it had been negative. She was treading between the two possibilities. One in which she carried Luke’s child, and one in which she didn’t. Only time would tell. Maybe she’d take the test again in a few days’ time.

  She had no desire to step foot inside Luke’s bar just yet. Back when it had been just a hookup, things had been different. Easier. She hadn’t given of herself as emotionally back then.

  But there was more than just her reputation to think about now, it wasn’t just about what Erin, or Geoffrey, or Savannah might say, if they knew. It was about protecting her heart. Unable to help herself, she had entertained the idea that she and Luke could have something more, that he needed her, even if he couldn’t say it in as many words. Her feelings for him had changed.

  If he had at least tried to get in touch this past week, she might have taken Erin up on her offer, but going to the bar now, given Luke’s silence, might anger him. She had good reason to be angry with him—she had come to demand more from the relationship and now she knew that he didn’t. For him it was what it was; convenient sex between two like-minded people. She couldn’t understand his reasons. Perhaps he couldn’t handle it, those broken rules and the revelation about his past and his mother’s story. Those things might have been too big a step for him to take.

  “Just for a couple of drinks,” Erin insisted.

  “No,” she replied, looking up at Erin somberly.

  “Have you both had a fight?” her friend asked. “I noticed you’ve had your head down lately.”

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, Remington is looking to
me for results. I can’t mess this up.”

  “Not even for a couple of drinks?”

  “Maybe next week.” She would wait it out. Let Luke come to her. Or make the move and split up with him now so that the thing was done soon. Anything was better than dealing with the mental trauma of being in this type of situation with that type of guy.

  Chapter 27

  “Do you want to get a beer or something?” Xavier asked him soon after he had arrived at the Canal Street site.

  Luke was happy to see him, but getting a drink was going to be impossible. “I could do with a couple of beers, but I can’t today. There’s just too much going on.” He did a double take because his friend looked like shit. In fact, Luke was pretty certain he didn’t look so good himself. After his visit to the doctor, and a subsequent ultrasound, he’d discovered that the doctor wanted to run more tests.

  “Why? What brings you here?” he asked, because something was clearly up with his friend. They hadn’t kept in touch lately, so the fact that his friend had turned up, told him things were dire.

  “She found out,” said Xavier, looking miserable. “Izzy found out about the bet.”

  “She what?” Poor girl. That can’t have gone down well at all. He swiped a hand on the back of his neck, staring at his friend. Xavier looked as if his easy-come-easy-go world had imploded. In the background, the continued banging and drilling noises, as well as the workmen’s loud, gruff voices, filled the air.

  This wasn’t the place to have that type of conversation and he could see that Xavier needed someone to talk to. He was about to suggest they go someplace quiet, when Xavier spoke. “She found out. She knows, and she hates me for it.”

  “How the hell did she find out?”

  “I have no fucking idea.” Xavier glanced at him. “Wasn’t you, was it?”

  Luke had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. They weren’t close close, like in your face close. Xavier didn’t know anything about him, or even that he’d been to his sister’s wedding, or who he was dating—if you could call what he and Kay had dating. But this surprised him, that his friend would think he’d been the one to snitch on him. “You’re really asking me?” He glared at Xavier in disbelief. Shaking his head, he said, “I never said anything. You know I wouldn’t, right?”

  “I don’t know how the fuck she found out, then.”

  “Wasn’t me.” He couldn’t believe Xavier had continued with that crazy, lame-ass idea of his. A $10K bet to bed a woman? Who the hell did that kind of thing? “You didn’t seem to be getting anywhere pursuing her, and I thought you’d forgotten about it.”

  “I wasn’t getting anywhere, and I did forget about it.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “Things changed,” replied Xavier, in a dull voice.

  “Things changed? Like what?”

  “I like her.”

  Luke blinked, trying to digest what Xavier had just said. Was it possible that Xavier had fallen for Izzy—as impossible as that seemed?

  “So what’s the problem?” he asked again. If he liked her, surely he could find a way to explain his crazy ass idea to her. At least, he could try. It had been a hell of a stupid idea in the first place and the guy seemed to be getting his karma returned.

  “I meant to tell her.”

  Oh, hell yes. The need to come clean. Xavier had fallen for her. “Why? I wouldn’t have told her, and she would never have found out.”

  “Doesn’t matter. She knows now. It’s all blown up.”

  No wonder the guy looked like shit. It wouldn’t have mattered much if he didn’t care, but having the girl you like suddenly find out that you put a price on bedding her, so not a good idea. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised that Xavier had feelings for this girl, especially if he’d had to work hard to get her. “I’ve never known you to not like pretty and sexy, and Izzy seems to be the perfect combination, but what made her warm towards you?” This was the million-dollar question. How a sensible girl like Izzy could fall for a playboy like Xavier.

  “Stuff,” said Xavier. “Maybe she saw my better side.”

  “You must have done your best to charm her?” he asked. It must have been something big because, as far as he was concerned, Izzy and Xavier had nothing in common.

  Xavier Stone was like a walking hard-on. His affinity for women, for being known as the stud, and for being so blatant about it, always surprised Luke. They were both so different in that respect, even though they both worked their way through plenty of women. Xavier openly chased after them—the guy loved women and he loved pussy. He seemed to make a game out of it. But Luke didn’t chase them. He didn’t need women in the same way Xavier did, and he could just as easily do without them for long periods of time. That is, until he’d met Kay, and now he didn’t know what to think.

  “I didn’t play her,” replied Xavier, defensively.

  Luke understood. Xavier had fallen for Izzy in a big way—otherwise her finding out about the bet would never have been a problem. He didn’t want to hurt this girl, but by virtue of her finding out what he’d done, she would never forgive him, and he couldn’t handle that. “And what we had,” he continued, “Wasn’t based on trying to get her into bed.”

  Yet the guy was smiling. The girl he had fallen for had just found out that he’d placed a bet on her, and he was grinning about it. Either his feelings weren’t as deep as he professed, or he was using laughter to disguise his pain. “Why are you smiling?” he asked. “Is this still a game to you?”

  “No. No.” Xavier shook his head. “I’m crazy about that girl.”

  “How crazy, exactly?”

  “The kind of crazy I’ve never been.”

  Seriously? He took a closer look at his friend’s miserable face. His eyes gave a clue to his suffering. Luke whistled. “Shit.”

  “You see my problem?” snapped Xavier, throwing his hands up in the air. “She found out about everything. About the bet, about the money, and that it was you and me who talked about it.”

  Hell, no. “She knows I’m implicated?” He hated Xavier for that. As far as Luke was concerned, he and Izzy had gotten on fine on Tobias’s private island. Luke had harbored no such feelings for her.

  Xavier’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me you don’t have any designs on her?” he demanded, making a second ridiculous accusation in the same conversation. Seriously? Was this guy for real?

  Luke didn’t go looking for women. They came to him. And Izzy was a student, for fuck’s sake, she was still at college—even if she’d expressed an interest in him he would never have hooked up with her.

  “You idiot,” he muttered. The guy was obviously in love because his brain had turned to mush, and he wasn’t capable of thinking straight. Why else would he make such unjust accusations? “I’m not interested in your girl.” It was sad to see, what the green-eyed monster of jealousy could to do a man, and then he remembered that night around Christmas time when he’d caught Kay’s ex making a play for her. He hadn’t been able to handle that too well, either.

  Jealousy was a bitch.

  “You sure?” Xavier asked.

  “Calm your shit,” said Luke, mildly irritated, and understanding his friend’s turmoil. “I’m not interested in your girl.”

  “Okay.”

  And in case he and Izzy ever discussed where this ridiculous idea came from, he said, “The bet wasn’t my idea, pal.”

  “It was my fucking stupid idea,” agreed Xavier. “So now, tell me. How do I get out of this mess?”

  “You’ve tried to explain to her?”

  “Yes, I’ve tried. I’ve texted and emailed and left long messages on her phone. She won’t talk to me.”

  “I can see why. You were an idiot, and it was a crazy thing to do.” Winning Izzy back after such a big fuck-up wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Who’s side are you on?” Xavier growled.

  “On yours, you idiot. I’m just trying to think it through, figure ou
t what your best plan of action might be.”

  “I was drunk. I thought I had something to prove, and I believed she was acting all not-interested, and that it was going to be easy to make her see.”

  Luke nodded, and expelled a hard breath of air. “Make her see how awesome you were?” he asked.

  “I hate hearing you describe me like that.”

  That sounded about right for Xavier. Twisted thinking that had nothing to do with Izzy’s feelings, and was based purely on his.

  Come to think of it, the same could have been said for him, and Kay would probably agree with that. His needs had been paramount to her feelings, especially when they had first gotten together. And then later on, his initial reason for asking her to accompany him to the wedding.

  He’d been no less a jerk than Xavier.

  “Luke?” He turned around when he heard someone shout out his name. It was one of the workmen. Raising his hand, he indicated that he’d be over in five. This wasn’t the time or place to be having this kind of conversation. The bar looked like a demolition site. “I can’t talk. My men need me. But look, here’s the thing, pal. You have to give her time. You have to stop pestering her. You have to wait for her to come to you, but it depends.”

  Xavier looked up. “On what?”

  “If she was really into you in the first place.”

  “She was.”

  She must have been. Izzy Laronde wasn’t the type of girl to give any guy—no matter how interested he was in her—the time of day.

  “Then you have to give her time to find her way back.”

  One of his guys came up to him again. “We need you to take a look at this wall now, boss.”

  “I’m coming.” Luke turned to Xavier. “Sorry. I need to go. Now’s not a good time.”

  “I appreciate it,” said Xavier. At least he didn’t look as worried as he had initially. Maybe talking things over had helped. “We’ll get together sometime,” Luke promised.

  “Yeah. You call me. I’m not as busy as you.” He left, and Luke walked over to his construction guys.